Vehicle cleaner nozzle and method of assembling vehicle cleaner nozzle

ABSTRACT

A method of assembling a vehicle cleaner nozzle provided in a vicinity of a leading end of a piston accommodated to be movable forward and backward with respect to a cylinder so as to inject a cleaning medium on an object to be cleaned which is mounted on a vehicle includes: assembling a nozzle chip to a housing along a first direction so as to form a feedback flow path for swinging and injecting the cleaning medium by accommodating the nozzle chip in an interior of the housing; and assembling the housing in a state where the housing accommodates the nozzle chip to a holder supported by the piston along the first direction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/354,283 filed on Mar. 15, 2019, which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety, and claims the benefit of priority fromprior Japanese patent application No. 2018-047864, filed on Mar. 15,2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a vehicle cleaner nozzle and a method ofassembling the vehicle cleaner nozzle.

A nozzle for cleaning a lens of an in-vehicle camera is disclosed inPatent Document 1.

-   Patent Document 1: US 2015/0138357 A1

The nozzle disclosed in the Patent Document 1 is supported by a bracketattached to a camera module and a flow path for swinging and injecting acleaning liquid from an injection port is formed in a nozzle chipaccommodated in a space provided in a nozzle housing. Further sizereduction is required for such nozzle that enables the swinging andinjecting of the cleaning liquid.

SUMMARY

The disclosure aims to provide a vehicle cleaner nozzle which is capableof swinging and injecting a cleaning liquid and is small. Further, thedisclosure aims to provide a method of assembling a vehicle cleanernozzle, which is capable of improving the work efficiency duringassembly.

In order to solve the problem, a vehicle cleaner nozzle is a vehiclecleaner nozzle for injecting a cleaning medium on an object to becleaned which is mounted on a vehicle, the vehicle cleaner nozzlecomprising:

a housing;

a nozzle chip accommodated in an interior of the housing; and

a holder configured to support the housing in a state where the housingaccommodates the nozzle chip,

wherein a feedback flow path for swinging and injecting the cleaningmedium is formed by accommodating the nozzle chip in the housing.

According to the vehicle cleaner nozzle of the disclosure, the feedbackflow path of the cleaning medium is formed between the housing and thenozzle chip accommodated in the housing. Therefore, it is possible toprovide the vehicle cleaner nozzle which is capable of swinging andinjecting the cleaning medium and is small.

In order to solve the problem, a method of assembling a vehicle cleanernozzle is a method of assembling a vehicle cleaner nozzle provided in avicinity of a leading end of a piston accommodated to be movable forwardand backward with respect to a cylinder so as to inject a cleaningmedium on an object to be cleaned which is mounted on a vehicle, themethod comprising:

a step of assembling a nozzle chip to a housing along a first directionso as to form a feedback flow path for swinging and injecting thecleaning medium by accommodating the nozzle chip in an interior of thehousing, and

a step of assembling the housing in a state where the housingaccommodates the nozzle chip to a holder supported by the piston alongthe first direction.

According to the method of assembling the vehicle cleaner nozzle of thedisclosure, it is possible to improve the work efficiency duringassembly.

According to the disclosure, it is possible to provide the vehiclecleaner nozzle which is capable of swinging and injecting the cleaningmedium and is small. Further, according to the disclosure, it ispossible to provide the method of assembling the vehicle cleaner nozzle,which is capable of improving the work efficiency during assembly.

Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosureaddress the features discussed above and/or other features not describedabove. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not requiredto address the above features, and aspects of the non-limitingembodiments of the present disclosure may not address features describedabove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detailbased on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sensor cleaner according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an injection nozzle includedin the sensor cleaner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a top perspective view of a nozzle housing included in theinjection nozzle of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is a bottom perspective view ofthe nozzle housing;

FIG. 4A is a top perspective view of a nozzle chip included in theinjection nozzle of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4B is a bottom perspective view ofthe nozzle chip;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the front side of the sensor cleaner;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the sensor cleaner showing a state in whichcleaning liquid is injected from the injection nozzle;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the sensor cleaner showing a pivotedstate of the injection nozzle; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the sensor cleaner showing a pivotedstate of the injection nozzle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An example of a sensor cleaner according to an embodiment of thedisclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Meanwhile,for the sake of convenience of explanation, the “left and rightdirection,” the “front and rear direction” and the “upper and lowerdirection” in this example refer to relative directions set for thesensor cleaner shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sensor cleaner 1 according to anembodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an injectionnozzle 10 included in the sensor cleaner 1. The sensor cleaner 1 is acleaner for cleaning foreign matters attached to an external sensor (notshown; an example of the object to be cleaned) mounted on a vehicle andacquiring information outside the vehicle by blowing cleaning liquid (anexample of the cleaning medium) to the external sensor. Examples of theexternal sensor include a LiDAR, a camera, a millimeter wave sensor, andthe like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sensor cleaner 1 includes a cylinder 2, apiston 3, and a pair of injection nozzles 10, 10 (an example of thevehicle cleaner nozzle).

The cylinder 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a connectionportion 4 is formed on the rear side thereof. A hose connected to acleaning liquid tank (not shown) in which a cleaning liquid is stored isconnected to the connection portion 4, so that the cleaning liquid issupplied from the cleaning liquid tank into the cylinder 2. The cylinderis provided in an opening portion (not shown; corresponding to a secondopening portion) formed in a part of a body panel (not shown) of thevehicle (not shown).

The piston 3 is slidably accommodated in the cylindrical cylinder 2. Thepiston 3 can move forward and backward along the central axis of thecylinder 2.

The injection nozzles 10, 10 are provided in pairs on the left and rightin the vicinity of the leading end of the piston 3. The injectionnozzles 10, 10 are nozzles capable of injecting cleaning liquid toward asensor (not shown) of a vehicle. The pair of injection nozzles 10, 10has the same configuration. Therefore, in the following description, theinjection nozzle 10 on the right side will be described. Meanwhile, theinjection nozzle 10 may be provided only on one side in the vicinity ofthe leading end of the piston 3.

The injection nozzle 10 includes a nozzle housing 12, a nozzle chip 14,and a nozzle holder 16. The nozzle housing 12 accommodates the nozzlechip 14 therein. The nozzle housing 12 is assembled to the nozzle holder16 in a state where the nozzle chip 14 is accommodated in the nozzlehousing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle housing 12, the nozzle chip14, and the nozzle holder 16 can be assembled along the same directionD. That is, the nozzle housing 12 accommodates the nozzle chip 14 alongthe direction D and is assembled to the nozzle holder 16 along thedirection D in a state where the nozzle chip 14 is accommodated.

FIG. 3A is a top perspective view of the nozzle housing 12, and FIG. 3Bis a bottom perspective view of the nozzle housing 12.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the nozzle housing 12 has a cylindricalbase part 21, and a chip accommodation part 22 provided above the basepart 21. The interior of the base part 21 and the chip accommodationpart 22 function as an accommodation space 23. A protruding portion 24for forming an oscillation chamber 50 (to be described later) isprovided to protrude into the accommodation space 23. An injection port25 for injecting cleaning liquid toward an external sensor is formed onthe rear side of the chip accommodation part 22.

FIG. 4A is a top perspective view of the nozzle chip 14, and FIG. 4B isa bottom perspective view of the nozzle chip 14. As shown in FIGS. 4Aand 4B, the nozzle chip 14 has a flat base part 31, and a pair ofprotruding portions 32 provided so as to protrude upward from the basepart 31. Further, a recessed portion 33 is formed on a bottom surface ofthe base part 31 so as to be recessed upward. The recessed portion 33 issurrounded by a frame portion 34 constituting a part of the base part31. The front side of the frame portion 34 is cut out. This cut-out part35 constitutes a communication path 52 through which cleaning liquidflows from the recessed portion 33 to the oscillation chamber 50 (seeFIGS. 7 and 8) in a state where the nozzle chip 14 is accommodated inthe nozzle housing 12.

Returning to FIG. 2, the nozzle holder 16 has a piston connectionportion 41 connected to the piston 3, and a nozzle holding portion 42provided so as to extend rightward from the piston connection portion41. A cylindrical nozzle connection portion 43 is provided on an uppersurface of the nozzle holding portion 42. The base part 21 of the nozzlehousing 12 is connected to the nozzle connection portion 43, so that thenozzle housing 12 is assembled to the nozzle holder 16. An openingportion 44 is formed inside the nozzle connection portion 43.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the front side of the sensor cleaner 1. FIG. 6is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is asectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is asectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG. 5. As shown in FIGS. 6and 8, in a state where the nozzle housing 12 accommodating the nozzlechip 14 is assembled to the nozzle holder 16, a space 51 is definedbetween the recessed portion 33 of the nozzle chip 14 and the nozzleconnection portion 43 of the nozzle holder 16. Further, the oscillationchamber 50 (the accommodation space 23) is defined between the chipaccommodation part 22 of the nozzle housing 12 and the base part 31 ofthe nozzle chip 14. Furthermore, the communication path 52 communicatingthe space 51 and the oscillation chamber 50 with each other is definedby the chip accommodation part 22 of the nozzle housing 12 and thecut-out portion 35 of the nozzle chip 14. In this manner, the cleaningliquid supplied from the connection portion 4 of the cylinder 2 passesthrough the inside of the nozzle holding portion 42 via the pistonconnection portion 41, is further supplied to the space 51 via theopening portion 44, and then, is supplied to the oscillation chamber 50via the communication path 52.

As shown in FIG. 7, the injection nozzle 10 functions as a fluidics typenozzle (swinging injection nozzle) by means of the oscillation chamber50 which is formed by the chip accommodation part 22 of the nozzlehousing 12 and the nozzle chip 14. The fluidics type nozzle refers to anozzle that performs control by interfering the flow of fluid anddeflecting its flow path. As shown in FIG. 9, the injection nozzle 10 asthe fluidics type nozzle can change an injection direction P of thecleaning liquid in the left and right direction by deflecting the flowpath of the cleaning liquid injected from the injection port 25.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, in a state where the nozzle chip 14 isaccommodated in the chip accommodation part 22 of the nozzle housing 12,the communication path 52, the oscillation chamber 50, a pair offeedback flow paths 55, 56, and the injection port 25 are formed insidethe injection nozzle 10. The oscillation chamber 50 is formedcontinuously with the communication path 52, and the cleaning liquid issupplied into the oscillation chamber 50 from the communication path 52.

The pair of feedback flow paths 55, 56 are flow paths defined betweenthe protruding portion 24 of the chip accommodation part 22 and theprotruding portions 32 of the nozzle chip 14 and are respectivelyprovided on the left and right sides of the oscillation chamber 50. Thefeedback flow paths 55, 56 have inlets 55A, 56A opening to theoscillation chamber 50 on the outlet side of the oscillation chamber 50(on the side of the injection port 25) and outlets 55B, 56B opening tothe oscillation chamber 50 on the inlet side of the oscillation chamber50 (on the side of the communication path 52). In this way, the feedbackflow paths 55, 56 are configured to respectively branch and guide a partof the cleaning liquid fed from the communication path 52 to theoscillation chamber 50 from the inlets 55A, 56A to the outlets 55B, 56Band return the cleaning liquid to the oscillation chamber 50 again.

Specifically, a part of the cleaning liquid flowing into the oscillationchamber 50 from the communication path 52 first flows into the feedbackflow path 55 through the inlet 55A of the feedback flow path 55 andflows into the oscillation chamber 50 through the outlet 55B.Subsequently, a part of the cleaning liquid in the oscillation chamber50 flows into the feedback flow path 56 through the inlet 56A of thefeedback flow path 56 and flows into the oscillation chamber 50 throughthe outlet 56B. Subsequently, a part of the cleaning liquid in theoscillation chamber 50 branches again to the feedback flow path 55 andflows again into the oscillation chamber 50 through the outlet 55B. Asthis cycle is repeated, the cleaning liquid alternately guided by thefeedback flow paths 55, 56 becomes a so-called “feedback control flow”to self-oscillate the cleaning liquid flowing through the oscillationchamber 50, so that the cleaning liquid can be swung and injected(diffused and injected) in the left and right direction from theinjection port 25. In this manner, the nozzle housing 12 and the nozzlechip 14 are assembled, so that the injection nozzle 10 can be configuredas the fluidics type nozzle. As a result, the injection nozzle 10 caninject the cleaning liquid to the external sensor at a high pressurewhile swinging the cleaning liquid in the left and right direction.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are perspective views of the sensor cleaner 1, showing apivoted state of the injection nozzle 10. As shown in FIG. 10, theinjection nozzle 10 is mounted such that the nozzle housing 12 ispivotable with respect to the nozzle holder 16 about an axis along theupper and lower direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the injectionnozzle 10 is mounted such that the nozzle holder 16 is pivotable withrespect to the piston 3 about an axis along the left and rightdirection. In this manner, by appropriately pivoting the nozzle housing12 and the nozzle holder 16 when attaching the injection nozzle 10 tothe piston 3, the injection port 25 of the injection nozzle 10 can beoriented to an appropriate position according to the positionalrelationship between the external sensor and the injection nozzle 10. Inthis way, the position of the injection nozzle 10 can be adjusted sothat the cleaning liquid appropriately strikes the external sensor.

As described above, the injection nozzle 10 for the sensor cleaner 1according to the present embodiment includes the nozzle housing 12 (anexample of the housing), the nozzle chip 14 accommodated in the interiorof the nozzle housing 12, and the nozzle holder 16 (an example of theholder) for supporting the nozzle housing 12 in a state of accommodatingthe nozzle chip 14. Further, in the injection nozzle 10, the nozzle chip14 is accommodated in the nozzle housing 12, so that the feedback flowpaths 55, 56 for swinging and injecting the cleaning liquid are formed.According to this configuration, the feedback flow paths 55, 56 areformed between the nozzle housing 12 and the nozzle chip 14 accommodatedin the nozzle housing 12, so that the cleaning liquid can be swung andinjected. Further, since the nozzle housing 12 itself is configured as apart of a member for forming the feedback flow paths 55, 56, the nozzlehousing 12 and the nozzle chip 14 can be formed in a small size, and theinjection nozzle 10 can be miniaturized.

Further, according to the injection nozzle 10 of the present embodiment,the nozzle housing 12 has the inner wall (the protruding portion 24) forforming the accommodation space 23 (first opening portion) in which thenozzle chip 14 is accommodated, and the nozzle chip 14 has the pair ofprotruding portions 32 forming the oscillation chamber 50 (oscillationspace) between the accommodation space 23 of the nozzle housing 12 andthe nozzle chip 14. In a state where the nozzle chip 14 is accommodatedin the nozzle housing 12, the pair of feedback flow paths 55, 56 isformed between the protruding portion 24 of the nozzle housing 12 andeach of the pair of protruding portions 32 of the nozzle chip 14.According to this configuration, the oscillation chamber 50 and thefeedback flow paths 55, 56 can be easily formed with a simpleconfiguration merely to accommodate the nozzle chip 14 in theaccommodation space 23 of the nozzle housing 12.

Further, according to the injection nozzle 10 of the present embodiment,when assembling the injection nozzle 10 to the piston 3, first, thenozzle chip 14 is assembled to the nozzle housing 12 along the directionD (an example of the first direction) shown in FIG. 2. In this way, thefeedback flow paths 55, 56 for swinging and injecting the cleaningliquid from the injection port 25 are formed. Subsequently, the nozzlehousing 12 in a state of accommodating the nozzle chip 14 is assembledto the nozzle holder 16 supported by the piston along the direction D.In this way, the nozzle housing 12, the nozzle chip 14, and the nozzleholder 16, which constitute the injection nozzle 10, can be assembledalong the same direction (direction D), so that it is possible toimprove the work efficiency at the time of assembling the injectionnozzle 10.

Meanwhile, the disclosure is not limited to the above-describedembodiments, but can be freely modified or improved as appropriate. Inaddition, materials, shapes, dimensions, numerical values, forms,numbers, and arrangement places and the like of each component in theabove-described embodiments are arbitrary and are not limited, as longas the disclosure can be achieved.

The injection nozzle 10 in the above embodiments is attached to thesensor cleaner 1 for injecting a cleaning liquid to an external sensorthat acquires information outside a vehicle. However, the injectionnozzle 10 is not limited to this example. The injection nozzle havingthe above configuration may be attached to a lamp cleaner which is usedfor cleaning a vehicle lamp by injecting a cleaning liquid to thevehicle lamp. The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention has been provided for the purpose of illustrationand description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modificationsand variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, thereby byenabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

1: Sensor cleaner, 2: Cylinder, 3: Piston, 4: Connection portion, 10:Injection nozzle (an example of the vehicle cleaner nozzle), 12: Nozzlehousing (an example of the housing), 14: Nozzle chip, 16: Nozzle holder(an example of the holder), 21: Base part, 22: Chip accommodation part,23: Accommodation space, 24: Protruding portion, 25: Injection port, 31:Base part, 32: A pair of protruding portions, 33: Recessed portion, 34:Frame portion, 35: Cut-out portion, 41: Piston connection portion, 42:Nozzle holding portion, 43: Nozzle connection portion, 44: Openingportion.

1. A method of assembling a vehicle cleaner nozzle provided in avicinity of a leading end of a piston accommodated to be movable forwardand backward with respect to a cylinder so as to inject a cleaningmedium on an object to be cleaned which is mounted on a vehicle, themethod comprising: assembling a nozzle chip to a housing along a firstdirection so as to form a feedback flow path for swinging and injectingthe cleaning medium by accommodating the nozzle chip in an interior ofthe housing, and assembling the housing in a state where the housingaccommodates the nozzle chip to a holder supported by the piston alongthe first direction.